Papa John's new ads: John's out, diverse franchisees are in

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Sep. 18, 2018 / 2:53 PM GMT

By Associated Press

Papa John's, which wants to distance itself from founder John Schnatter, is releasing new ads Tuesday that replace him with a diverse group of franchisees.

The commercials show several franchisees looking into the camera and introducing themselves to viewers.

"You've heard one voice of Papa John's for a long time," one of them says, followed by another who says, "It's time you heard from all of us." At the end, the company's logo substitutes "John's" with the first names of each of the franchisees until it settles on the logo again.

"That was a way to really reinforce that this is a brand that belongs to everyone," says Melissa Richards-Person, who oversaw the ads as the company's vice president of global brand strategy. "This isn't a single person's brand."

The pizza chain started to remove Schnatter from its logos, pizza boxes, and restaurants this summer after a report said he used a racial slur during a media training session. Schnatter, who has apologized for the slur, said it was taken out of context. He has also criticized Papa John's for its handling of the matter and said his resignation as chairman of the company was a mistake. He remains the Louisville, Kentucky, company's biggest shareholder.

Schnatter, who founded the company more than 30 years ago, has appeared in many of the company's commercials. Traditionally, the ads have also featured a football star, but the company has also moved away from that sport after Schnatter criticized NFL leadership last year over protests by players wanting to bring attention to police mistreatment of black males.

The company hired film maker Ramaa Mosley to direct the new ads. The company said Mosley is the first woman to direct one of its commercials.

Victoria Russell, who was named diversity chief of Papa John's after Schnatter's NFL comments last year, said she spent the summer visiting franchisees around the country, many of whom said they were losing sales because of what one person said. Russell said the ads could help show the diversity of the company.